Revolutionary Moderation

Holiday gaffe roundup

Break time's over. Let's start with the "gaffes" that I'm not giving any score for.

First up, the Holocaust memorial photo. As near as I've been able to tell, the photo was never used to attempt to prove the thesis that Tories are in bed with separatists; rather, it was a convenient photo to illustrate a pamphlet arguing that point. Anyone who's ever played with clip art, who has ever designed one of these things, will know how unimportant the context of the photo is. The designer doesn't much care, the readers don't much care, and the only people who might notice are the original photographer or illustrator and the characters in the photo. No score. I'm half-tempted to give the Tories a few points for even complaining about this, rather that, say, responding to the allegation. But only half.

The other blank going up is related to the income trust issue. Should Goodale have resigned already? Probably. Will Paul Martin be wearing this albatross around his neck right to the finish line? Certainly. But is it a "gaffe" in the sense of saying or doing something obviously stupid? No. Crime is not a gaffe. Unless it was Lorne Nystrom accidentally lifting a bottle of contact lens solution. I'd totally gaffe that.

Coming up tomorrow: some actual score changes.